


Earth Ten

by brinshannara



Series: 52 Times Alex and Maggie Met [7]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Earth, F/F, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brinshannara/pseuds/brinshannara
Summary: What if Alex Danvers didn't work for the DEO? What if meeting Maggie Sawyer at a bowling alley sent Alex on a journey back to Midvale where she started to figure out who she was? What if love is friendship set on fire?





	Earth Ten

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Lurkz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lurkz) for the beta and idea bouncing! This is also known as "The Bowling AU", which all started because of a [Twitter conversation](https://twitter.com/brinshannara/status/1105173330049536000).
> 
> As always, comments and kudos remind me that, though I write primarily for myself, others do appreciate it when I put my stuff out there. Thanks for reading. :)

"You just have to have _faith_ ," Kara said, trying to explain the ridiculous notion to her.

"I appreciate the advice, Kara, I do," Alex replied, "but there is no power on Earth that will ever make me believe in what you call _the bowling zen_ ," she grinned, selecting a ball from the rack.

"Alex, I _swear_ ," Kara said, "I swear it exists! It's like, this, this… this _feeling!_ " she exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. "Like everything just sort of makes sense? And works? Or something." She looked frustrated at her inability to convey the concept.

Alex snorted. "Bowling is physics and nothing more," she retorted, pulling the ball off the rack and nearly bending double. "Oh god, that's heavy," she said, lugging it to the player's area and placing it among the other balls on the track.

Kara laughed and picked up a 16 pound ball easily, as though it weighed nothing, while Alex glared.

"It should be illegal for you to play this," she muttered.

"But it's not," her younger sister replied, cheerfully.

"I hope you accidentally smash everything into itty, bitty pieces."

"No, you don't."

"Don't I?"

"No." Kara grinned. "Because you love me and don't want the entire world to know who I am."

Alex sighed the sigh of an older sister and reluctantly agreed. "Well, go on," she said, "show me how it's done."

"Gladly!"

Alex sat down, watching Kara intently. The last time she'd been bowling must have been when she was about seventeen, back with Vicki. It had been a silly evening, just the two of them. They'd seen _The Da Vinci Code_ after Alex had vetoed _Mission: Impossible III_. It flabbergasted Vicki.

"How on earth can you want to see _TOM HANKS_ over _TOM CRUISE_?" her best friend had exclaimed.

Alex had gotten her to agree to see her movie with the promise they'd see the latest Tom Cruise movie the following week, Alex's treat.

After the movie, which had been decidedly worse than the book, they'd gone to a disco bowling alley for fun. Alex had scored a whopping 38 points to Vicki's 77. They were both terrible, but it had been a delightful evening. They'd stumbled into Vicki's house after midnight, being careful not to wake her parents or her brother, and crept into Vicki's bedroom. Alex had always been so at peace at Vicki's; she loved spending the night at the Donahue house.

Alex shook herself out of her reverie, pushing down the remnants of memories from a friendship that had ended over a decade ago. She watched as Kara aimed directly at the first pin and watched as her sister threw the ball effortlessly down the lane. She frowned. From her angle, there was no way that all the pins should have gone down.

"What's the matter, jealous that I already have a strike?" Kara gloated as she came back to the bench.

Alex looked at her. "You're not even _trying_ to use physics, are you?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, you're subconsciously using physics to not smash things, but it's literally just the force of the ball knocking everything over."

Kara looked confused. "Isn't that the point of bowling?"

She sighed. "Yes, but you're not _supposed_ to do it the way you're doing it." She turned and looked around. "Look at her," she said, pointing at a dark-haired woman four lanes over. "Watch how she does it."

They watched together as the dark-haired woman's ball curved dangerously towards the gutter and then seemed to change direction and hurled itself into the spot between the lead pin and the next pin on the right side. It was a strike.

"Huh," Kara said, shrugging. "My way works."

"For _you_ ," Alex muttered, standing up. Given her lack of superhuman strength, she had doubts about Kara's methods working for her, so she tried to copy the spin. Unfortunately, the intervening years since she'd held a bowling ball meant that she was woefully unprepared. Somehow, she ended up taking one step too many. Or one step short? Either way, her timing was off and the ball flew from her hand, crashing on to the lane at an awkward angle, before heading into the gutter.

She sighed heavily as she watched it roll ever-so-slowly down the length of the gutter. She flushed red with embarrassment as she noticed the dark-haired woman from the other lane smile at her. It would be a long night.

And so it was. Kara ended their first game beating Alex soundly, 224 to 43 and the scores of the next two games weren't much different. The best Alex could get was 63, while Kara had been a couple of strikes away from a perfect game, with 268 being her best effort.

Muttering to herself about alien strength, Alex headed to the counter to return their shoes. Kara had already left and gone out on a quick fly-through of the city, but promised she'd meet up with Alex shortly for the movie portion of sister night.

She placed both pairs of shoes on the counter and smiled at the man. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied, taking the shoes and spraying them down, one at a time. "See you next time."

She laughed. "Not sure there's gonna be a next time, honestly," she said. "I'm legitimately terrible at this game."

"It's a fun game, though," a low voice came from further down the counter. "Did your girlfriend kick your ass _that_ badly?"

She turned to see the dark-haired woman who'd smiled at her earlier in the evening. "My…?"

"Your girlfriend? The blonde?"

Alex flushed. "Oh, uh, no, that's, she's…" She forced a laugh. "That was my _sister_."

"Oh," the dark-haired beauty said, a little flustered. "Sorry, I just, you know, assumed, what with your leather jacket and her plaid shirt…"

Alex's eyebrows raised up. "Uh, well, uh, that's just… uh, funny." She swallowed. "Because she's my sister."

"Yeah. You said that." The woman's demeanour changed, and she raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Fine, fine, I'm, uh, good, so, I think I'm gonna, uh, go," Alex stammered, the words flowing from her mouth without even consulting with her brain.

"Hey," she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume."

Alex shook her head wildly. "No, no, no, it's fine, it's good, I'm good, fine." She forced herself to shoot her a quick smile. "Have a nice night," she said, then turned around and walked out of the alley, not feeling entirely steady on her feet.

The cool air outside helped soothe her nerves, and she calmed down as she walked to Kara's. She didn't understand why she'd reacted so oddly. Of course, it was laughable that she would date a woman, much less _Kara_. It was silly. It was just a mistaken assumption by some stranger. Satisfied with that, she pushed away the thoughts about the interaction. By the time she arrived at Kara's, she was ready for some wine, popcorn and a movie.

***

It was a month later that Kara could finally convince Alex to go back to the bowling alley.

"Kara, I'm terrible at it. Can't we go to that pinball bar?" she whined as they stood outside the building.

"We did that two weeks ago," her sister reminded her.

"Play pool somewhere?"

"That was last week."

"Come _on_ , Kara, I'm awful at bowling," she'd pouted.

"How are you going to get better if you don't practice?" her sister had cheerfully pointed out.

With a sigh, she trudged into the bowling alley, defeated.

It was full of people, busier than she ever would have thought the bowling alley would have been. She secretly hoped that they wouldn't have a free lane for them.

"You're in luck, ladies," the woman at the cash said. "Even though it's our league night, we have one lane left."

"I'll get the shoes," Alex sighed, leaving Kara to pay for the lane.

"Well, well," the man at the shoe counter chuckled, "looks like you came back after all," he grinned. It was the same man behind the counter as it had been during her last visit.

"My sister," she said, rolling her eyes in explanation.

"Right," he grinned, "your _sister_."

She frowned at his tone, but mentally shrugged. "Two pairs of size eights, please."

"Sure thing," he said.

She forked over the cash and he handed over the shoes.

"Have a good time," he smiled.

"Thanks," she smiled back. She turned and scanned the lanes, seeing Kara in lane one. With a sigh, she headed over to meet her sister and prepared for a couple of unpleasant hours.

Just as their first game ended, with Kara getting another score in the high-200s, to Alex's pathetic 52, her sister paused. Alex sighed. She knew that look. That distant, far-off look that meant Kara was listening to something Alex couldn't hear. A communication from the top-secret government agency Kara worked with as a superhero, or perhaps someone was calling for help. Or it could be that a bank alarm was ringing twenty blocks away.

"Alex, I'm sorry," she said.

"But you have to go," Alex finished for her. "It's okay. Text me later, all right?"

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," she smiled. "Go. Go be a hero."

Kara smiled back at her as she slipped on her street shoes. "You've got two more games. You can practice and even play both players."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Will you get out of here already?"

"Love you," she said, giving Alex a brief hug.

"You too."

Kara strode out of the building quickly, leaving Alex alone in the lane. With nothing else to do but play, she started in on the second match.

She was finishing the eighth frame for her own player when she realized the young woman from the cash register was standing by the console in her lane.

"Hey, I'm sorry to disturb you," she said, "but I saw your friend leave—"

"Sister," she corrected, automatically.

"Uh, yeah, I saw your sister leave, so I was wondering if you'd mind sharing the lane with one of our regulars? I'll throw in a free game, too."

Alex shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She briefly wondered if the guy would flirt with her annoyingly to the point where she'd have to break his nose.

"Great, thanks so much! I really appreciate it." She turned and waved in a beckoning fashion over towards the counter.

Alex looked over and sighed heavily. It was the dark-haired woman from her last visit to the alley.

"Thanks again," the cashier said, going back to the cash, as the woman joined Alex in the player's area.

"Hey," the woman said, smiling. "Thanks for sharing the lane with me. I forgot it was league night."

Alex nodded. "No problem."

The woman took off her leather jacket, draping it over a chair by the console that controlled the lane. "I'm Maggie," she said, extending her hand. "Maggie Sawyer."

"Alex Danvers," she replied, grasping the other woman's hand in her own. It was warm and soft, but she had a firm grip.

"Nice to meet you, Alex Danvers," she said. "Officially, anyway," she added, with a smile. "Your, uh, your sister not here tonight?"

Alex shook her head. "She was, but she had a work emergency."

"Ooh," Maggie said, making a face. "That's too bad." She sat down and put on her bowling shoes. "What does she do?"

"Hm?"

"Your sister? What does she do where she could have a work emergency?"

"Oh, uh," Alex cleared her throat, "she's a reporter for Catco."

"Oh no way, that's pretty cool," she said, tying up the laces. She stood up. "What about you? What do you do for a living?" she asked as she opened up her bag and pulled out a cherry-red ball with some white writing on it.

"I'm a scientist," she said. "I work in a private lab and we mostly work on stuff for the FBI."

"Cool," Maggie said, buffing her ball with a rag.

"I like it," Alex nodded. She paused, realizing she should probably ask Maggie about herself. "So what about you?"

"I'm a detective, in the Science Division of the NCPD." She finished buffing the ball and put the rag back into the bowling bag.

Alex nodded. "Cool." She swallowed. She didn't really know what to do or even say next.

Maggie looked up at her and smiled brilliantly at her. "Shall we start a new game?"

Alex shrugged and nodded. "Sure. Uh, fair warning, I'm pretty terrible at this."

"Come on, it's bowling. No one is _terrible_ at bowling."

"Me. I am."

Maggie raised an eyebrow.

"I promise you, I am _really_ that bad."

"We'll see about that," Maggie chuckled. With that, she deftly reset the game at the console. She entered Alex's name and then her own. "After you," she said, once the mechanism deployed the pins.

Alex shrugged and picked up her ball from the rack attached to the ball return mechanism. Trying not to think about the woman sitting behind her at the console, she took a few awkward steps and launched the ball on to the lane where it promptly hit the gutter. She made a face and turned back to face Maggie.

Maggie was laughing. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, but that was legitimately awful," she gasped as she laughed.

The laughter was contagious and Alex chuckled. "Told you so," she said.

"Okay, I get that you're probably someone who doesn't accept help all that often," she grinned, "but please, _please,_ would you let me give you some tips?"

She hadn't expected this virtual stranger to have described her so accurately. Still, she smiled. "Sure."

Maggie put her ball down on the concave plastic seat next to her and stood up. "First, you're using way too heavy a ball. What were you using, a 14?"

Alex nodded.

"Right, so I mean, you're obviously in good shape, but your wrist won't support the ball well, so let's give you a 10-pounder for now." She selected a ball from the rack and handed it to Alex. "There, is that better?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said. It was lighter, obviously, and easier to hold.

"Great. Now, you want to stand about here," she said, standing in a particular spot. "You'll want to take three big steps to get you to that line, but don't cross it—"

"Right, or I'll foul. I know that much."

"Exactly, you'll foul. So three big steps and then let the ball go, low to the ground. You don't want to throw it from two feet up."

Alex looked at her. "Like I did last time I was here? Is that the implication?"

Maggie grinned at her, showing off her dimples, her eyes twinkling. "Maybe," she said, a touch too innocently.

She found herself grinning back. "Okay, three steps?"

Maggie nodded and moved out of the way. "Stand here," she said, pointing to the spot she'd just vacated. "For now, try to hit the first pin in the front. We'll worry about other stuff later."

Alex nodded. She focused on the lead pin, took a step with her right foot, another with her left, her arm coming back—

"Stop!"

She nearly fell over forward from the momentum. "What?"

"Left, right, left," Maggie said, walking alongside her, performing the proper movement.

"Isn't that what I was doing?"

She shook her head. "You started with your right, then left and would have ended on your right foot while throwing with your right arm."

"And that's bad?"

"Well, it's not great."

Alex nodded. "Okay. Three steps. Left foot first. Aim for the middle. Don't drop the ball on to the lane from two feet up."

Maggie grinned. "Good summary. Okay, let's see it."

She returned to the spot, holding the ball up, keeping her eye on the front pin. She took a big step with her left foot, drawing the ball back and up with her right arm, then let it swing forward as she stepped with her right foot, then ended on her left foot, the ball releasing from her hand and skidding straight down the middle of the lane. Alex straightened up and watched as the ball crashed thunderously into the lead pin, causing all but two pins to go down.

"Nice!" Maggie said, encouragingly, coming up to her with her hand raised.

Alex smacked it soundly. "That was awesome," she said.

"I mean, you're left with the old goal posts, but that's still a huge improvement over your last shot."

"Goal posts?"

"Oh," she said, "yeah, sorry, the seven pin and the ten pin were both still standing. We call that a seven-ten split or a goal post split. It's a tough one to pick up as a spare."

"Gotcha." Alex looked down the lane as it reset. "Oh, I guess that was my second shot, huh? You're up?"

Maggie nodded and got her ball from its rest on the seat.

"What's it say on it?" Alex asked.

"H, Huskers," she said. "Nebraska Cornhuskers," she clarified. "I bowled in college."

Alex raised her eyebrows. "Wow, okay, so you're serious about bowling, got it."

She grinned. "Just a little." She turned and perfectly executed a beautiful throw, the ball careening towards the gutter and curving back around to hit between two pins, knocking them all down. She turned back, smiling. "Your turn."

Alex grabbed her ball from the rack and tried to remember all the things Maggie had taught her. Again, her throw was surprisingly good. Seven pins were knocked down, leaving a cluster of three on the right.

"Good," Maggie said, approvingly. "Now aim right for the middle of that group. Use the arrows on the lane boards to line it up."

A moment later, Alex had gotten them all down, earning her a spare.

"Nice job!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Okay, this gets more fun the better you get at it," she admitted. "Ooh, when do I get to do the crazy, curvy thing like you?"

Maggie raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you calling me crazy or curvy or both?" she asked, with a smile.

Alex frowned. "Oh, no, no, no, I meant the thing you do with your ball!"

"You mean this?" she asked, as she picked up her red ball from the rack. Virtually effortlessly, Maggie strode purposefully towards the lane and delivered a brilliant example of a curve, hugging the gutter dangerously before switching directions and knocking all the pins down.

" _That_ ," Alex said, "I want to do _that_."

" _That_ is called a hook," she explained. "The goal is to put enough spin on the ball to get it to skid through the oil and then when it hits the rougher wood on the lane, it'll rotate in the spin's direction. If you did it right, it'll crash into the pocket, which is the spot between the first pin and, for a righty, the third pin, or the second pin, if you bowl lefty."

"I'm sorry, the oil?" Alex blinked. "What oil?"

Maggie paused and cleared her throat. "Okay, the basics it is," she smiled, easily. "So there's a coat of oil across the lane."

"There is?"

She nodded. "Lots near us, then it fades out and, by this point of the evening, probably a little uneven on the right-hand side of the lane, because more people are righties than lefties."

Alex shook her head. "I see nothing."

"Well, if you could see it properly, it wouldn't be that challenging, would it?" She grinned. "Hang on."

Alex watched as Maggie walked over to the console and hit a button.

"Sam? You mind if I take my newbie down the lane to show her the oil?" There was a pause. "Yeah, just for a minute. Can you shut it — perfect, thanks!"

Alex turned and saw the pins had all been lifted up.

"The lane is in maintenance mode," Maggie said. "Come here, we'll walk along this middle section between the gutters."

"Are we allowed?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, Sam's a good friend of mine, she knows I'll make sure you don't break anything," she grinned. "After you," she said.

It wasn't a very wide surface and Alex slowed down to keep her balance. And then, she tripped, lurching forward.

"Whoah," Maggie said, grabbing her by her shirt and her waist. "Easy, easy," she said, pulling Alex towards her, steadying her by placing her hands on Alex's hips, firmly.

"Thanks," Alex said, blushing furiously. "I'm not usually so clumsy." She was grateful the other woman couldn't see how embarrassed she was.

"I've got you," Maggie replied, her grip on Alex's waist tightening.

She swallowed and started again. Together, they plodded to the end of the lane.

"All right," Maggie said, pulling her hands from Alex's waist. "Crouch down here and look at the lane."

Carefully, she squatted down, copying Maggie's stance.

"Okay, so, if you tilt your head, you should be able to see where the shine of the oil drops off." Maggie pointed to a spot a few feet away.

"I don't see it, sorry," she said.

"Here." Maggie gently pulled Alex's arm up. "Just over there," she said, pointing alongside Alex's arm. The other woman was close enough that Alex could smell her perfume. Or her shampoo. Or something. Whatever it was, it smelled nice.

She forced herself to concentrate and peered down her arm, seeing the barest glint of the oil. "Oh!" She blinked rapidly, now knowing what to look for. "Oh, I see it!" she said, excitedly. With a smile, she tilted her head at a strange angle and got a better glimpse of the oil pattern laid out on the floor of the lane. "That's really neat," she said.

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"So you throw the ball and it skids through the oil, before—"

"Before it then _rolls_ on the dry wood to hit the pins!" The theory exploded inside Alex's head, blossoming in understanding. "I get it!"

Maggie laughed. "All right, let's see how you do when it comes to executing."

She nodded and stood.

Maggie took her hands and placed them on her own hips. "Hold on. We don't need you falling into the lane," she said, with a smile, then moved back towards the playing area.

Caught unaware, Alex finally took a couple of quick steps to catch up. Holding on to Maggie's hips, she could feel the heat from the other woman's body seeping through her jeans. For no clear reason, it reminded Alex of Vicki and sleepovers at her place. Puzzled, she frowned and focused instead on not falling over like an idiot.

"Stay here," Maggie said, as she pulled Alex's hands from her hips and moved forward a few steps. She stepped off the middle area and extended her hands for Alex to hold on to for the last few steps.

"I'm fine," she laughed, "I don't need to be helped down like, like… like an Elizabethan-era maiden from a carriage!"

"Listen, Sam will kill me if you fall and bleed all over her lanes," Maggie grinned and again extended her hands. "Come on." She looked into Alex's eyes. "M'lady," she added, eyes twinkling at her.

Rolling her eyes, but unable to stop smiling, Alex took them in her own, letting Maggie's strength help to steady her as she took the three or four steps left.

"You're up," Maggie said, "let me get Sam to turn us on."

"Sure," Alex said, her heart thudding inside her chest. She shook her head, as if to clear it, and grabbed her ball from the rack as Maggie signalled Sam to turn the lane back on. She stood a few steps from the line and gazed down the lane, picturing the skidding and rolling of the ball, as the mechanism lowered the pins at the end of the lane.

"We're good," Maggie called from behind her.

Alex nodded without even looking back. She took a deep breath, visualizing the skid and the oil and the rotation, and started her approach. As soon as she released the ball, she knew it was a much better throw than any other before. She stepped back and watched as the ball slipped across the oil, veering towards the gutter, but soon turned directly into the pins. To her utter amazement, every single pin went down.

"Yes!" she shouted, raising her hands above her head. She spun around, beaming. "I did it!"

"Yeah, you did," Maggie said, smiling and coming over to her. She high-fived Alex. "Proud of you," she smiled.

She was still beaming. "I'm gonna get a beer. Can I get you something?"

"Sure, a beer would be great," Maggie said.

"Awesome. Be right back." She headed to the food counter and ordered a couple of beers, still smiling, reflecting on the evening. She'd almost forgotten she'd tried to talk Kara out of bowling. Her face fell at a terrible realization: she'd have to tell Kara that she was right, bowling _was_ fun.

***

While Maggie beat Alex in their remaining games, to no one's shock, Alex was feeling great as they walked out of the alley together. She'd improved a lot and even broken a hundred points. She grinned as she remembered Maggie rewarding her with onion rings from the food counter.

Together, they walked outside and Alex realized she didn't want the evening to end.

"Thanks," she said, as they walked towards the parking lot.

"For?"

"Teaching me all that stuff." She smiled. "And for the onion rings."

"Hey, you earned them," Maggie replied, smiling back.

All too soon, they arrived at a motorcycle, a Triumph.

"Yours?" Alex inquired.

Maggie nodded and got her helmet unlatched letting it dangle from her fingertips by the strap. "Afraid I'm a bit of a stereotype," she said, almost sheepishly, looking down at herself and looking back up at Alex with an easy smile. Her dimples were on display.

Alex blinked. "What do you mean, a stereotype?"

She laughed, putting the bowling ball case into a saddlebag and fastening it, before propping her helmet against her left hip, holding it in place with her forearm. "Look at me," she said, grinning, "what do you see?"

"Dimples," she answered, honestly, garnering a real laugh from the detective.

"Guilty," she said, "but… what else?"

She shrugged. "Leather jacket. Jeans. Motorcycle."

Maggie rolled her eyes and swung her leg over the motorcycle, sitting on it comfortably. "I'm on the bike."

She looked questioningly at her.

"I'm a dyke on a bike, Alex."

Her eyebrows flew up to her hairline. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Oh," she said again. "Ohhhhh." It clicked. Maggie was gay.

"Did you honestly not know?" Maggie laughed.

She flushed. "I…" She cleared her throat. "I don't know many? Any? Uh. Gay women."

"Well, that's debatable. But at least, you now know one _openly_ gay woman." She grinned and put her helmet on. "Can I give you a ride?"

"No, uh…" She cleared her throat again and pointed to another nearby motorcycle. "That one's mine."

Maggie looked in the direction Alex was pointing and laughed out loud again.

"What, am I not allowed to have a motorcycle because I'm straight?" Alex grinned.

Maggie raised her hands in surrender. "I am always in favour of hot women in leather jackets riding motorcycles, no matter what they identify as," she grinned. "Anyway, uh, yeah, tonight was fun. I had fun."

"Me too," Alex agreed, quickly. "Uh, would, um, you like to… I don't know, go bowling together again sometime? I mean, I know I'm awful, but I really loved learning to play and—"

"Yes," she said, "I'd like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She held out her hand, palm up.

"Hm?"

"Your phone. I'll give you my number."

"Oh!" Alex fumbled for it. "Oh, yeah, sure, here," she said, handing it over. She watched as Maggie's thumbs flew over the phone's keyboard.

"Text me," she said, softly.

"I will," Alex promised.

"Sounds good," Maggie responded, starting up the bike. "See ya 'round, Alex."

"See ya."

And with that, Maggie drove off into the night, leaving Alex standing there, watching her go.

***

The next morning, Alex woke up before her alarm. She sat up and gazed across the room at the clock, its red digits glowing in the mostly dark room: oh-five-hundred-forty-two. She shook her head. _Something_ had woken her up. She frowned. It was something she'd dreamt. She closed her eyes, still sitting up, trying to recapture the moment, the feeling. She let her breath flow in and out, trying to remain calm, even as something akin to panic fluttered on the outskirts of her mind, in that fuzzy place between sleep and awake where dreams live. After a minute or two, she sighed and threw off her covers. It was no use; she couldn't recapture the dream.

She went for her usual morning run, still unsettled by whatever she'd dreamt. Her uneasiness over whatever she'd dreamt hadn't yet dissipated, so she ran harder, faster, pushing herself more than usual, in the slim hopes she could sweat out the discomfort.

When she arrived back at her apartment, drenched with sweat, she was still off-kilter. She couldn't shake it. She sighed and hopped in the shower, in the hopes of washing it away.

No luck. Even after scrubbing her skin to a bright pink, Alex was still out of sorts. Her towel wrapped around her torso, she wandered back to her bed and picked up her phone from the nightstand and sent Kara a text message.  
  
"I think I had a weird dream. Want to get breakfast together?"

Her phone in hand, she remembered that Maggie had put her number into her phone. She thumbed through to her contacts and frowned. There wasn't a Maggie or a Sawyer in the list. She felt even worse at the realization that Maggie hadn't put her number in. She thought they'd had fun. Maggie had even bought her onion rings!

She stood and tossed the phone on the bed. _Fuck it,_ she thought to herself, her foul mood firmly entrenched.

***

"And then, _then_ she makes this big production of like, asking for my phone so she can put her number in it, and she doesn't!" Alex exclaimed, still angry, before finishing her doughnut.

Kara frowned. "That's weird. Didn't you see her enter stuff into your phone?"

Alex nodded, eyes wide. "Yeah, like, why do it for show if you're not actually going to put your number in?"

"Give me your phone."

Alex slid it across the table.

"No Sawyer. No Maggie," she said, going through the contacts, scrolling up and down.

"Exactly!" Alex complained.

Kara laughed, suddenly.

"What?"

"I, uh, think I found it." She tapped on the contact to expand the profile and slid the phone back over to Alex.

She blinked. The name was _Bike, Dyke on a_. She snorted, a wide grin on her face.

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Is, uh, there something you want to tell me, Alex?" she asked, innocently.

"What? No!" Alex laughed at the very notion. "Maggie is, I mean, she… well, she's gay. And she might have made a joke about me being gay because I have a motorcycle, since she does, too."

"Straight women can't have motorcycles?"

"That's what I said," Alex grinned. "Oh, oh, and I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but the last time we went there? She was that woman bowling like a pro. And we chatted a bit when I was returning the shoes. She thought, get this," she laughed, "she thought you were my _girlfriend_."

"Ew, gross!"

"That was pretty much my reaction," Alex grinned at Kara. She glanced down at the phone and picked it up. "And here I thought your name was Detective Sawyer and not Detective Bike," she said aloud, for Kara's benefit.

"So I guess you'll want to go bowling more often now?" Kara asked.

Alex nodded as she sipped at her coffee. "It's more fun when you know how to play. I can sometimes do the cool curvy thing now!"

"Ooh, aren't we sophisticated?"

"Well, _some_ of us can't rely on brute strength to win."

Kara's eyes twinkled. "Rematch, then?"

"You're on!"

The sisters shook on it.

"Look at you, you haven't been bowling in what, a decade, and we'll have gone three times in a month or something?"

"Yeah, the last time was probably with Vicki," she said, pensively, as _something_ hovered around the periphery of her conscious mind. "Ooh, almost had it," she muttered.

"Had what?"

She sighed. "I still can't remember my weird dream. I've been…" She paused, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. "I don't know, I've been a little off since I woke up. I think that if I can remember the dream, I'll feel better."

"So is it bowling?"

Alex shook her head. "Don't think so."

"Time? Something in the last ten years?"

"Nope."

"Something about competing against me?" she grinned.

"Nuh-uh."

"Vicki?"

There it went again, skittering across her mind. "Oh, it's definitely something to do with Vicki," Alex said, narrowing her eyes, frowning.

"Weird. Didn't you two have a falling out near the end of high school?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Well, kind of." She blew out a breath. "I, uh, probably got angrier than I should have about something and then I got stubborn and…" She sighed. "And that was that."

"What was the argument even about?" Kara asked. "I don't think we ever really talked about it."

Alex propped her right elbow up on the table and rested her chin on her fist. "It's kind of hard to even remember," she admitted. "I… I definitely pushed that way, way down." She took a breath. "It hurt, losing her."

Kara nodded. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about it."

"No," Alex said, "no, it's good. Maybe it'll make me remember my dream." She inhaled and exhaled slowly, letting herself remember. "It was about some guy," she said. "Chad. Carl. Chris. Something like that." She blew out a breath. "Anyway, I was… I was jealous or something? I think? I just… I couldn't stand the thought of them dating." She frowned as her stomach churned at the memories. "Ugh, even now, my stomach gets upset thinking about it."

"Wow, you really liked the guy that much?"

She shrugged. "I guess?" She considered. "I can't even remember his name, though. That's weird."

"So what happened?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of it's him or it's me, and, well…" She trailed off, as the memories came crashing back in full force.

_"You're willing to ruin our friendship because you like the guy who likes me?" Vicki had shouted._

_"And you're willing to pick him over me?" she'd shouted back._

_"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?"_

_"No! I just… I…" Alex had been at a loss for words. Her stomach churned, her mind was moving a hundred miles an hour. There just weren't any words to describe what she'd felt. "You know what?" she'd said. "Fine. It's fine. Go out with him. I don't care. We're done," she had spat, savagely. And with that, she'd grabbed her backpack and run down the stairs from Vicki's room and out the front door, slamming it behind her._

Alex took a deep breath. "I told her to pick him, it was fine, and we were done," she said, quietly. "I took my bag and ran downstairs and out of her house and we, uh… never spoke again." She swallowed, slumping, clasping her hands in front of her, willing herself not to cry.

"Oh Alex," Kara said, reaching across the table and covering Alex's hands with her own. "I'm so sorry."

She sniffled, determined not to let any tears escape. "Yeah, well," she said, "I looked her up online a few years ago. They got married. So. I guess it worked out for the best," she managed, her lip quivering just a touch.

"Alex," Kara said, softly. "I… I didn't realize how much she meant to you."

She swallowed, once, twice. "I just… I shoved it so far down, Kara." She paused. "I think maybe I never dealt with it."

"You want me to take the day off and hang? You can call in sick, we can spend the day at the loft…" Kara offered.

She smiled and squeezed her sister's hands. "No," she said, sitting up straight, "no, it's okay, really."

"Really?"

"I'll be fine," she assured Kara. She took a breath. "I'm better now."

Kara looked at her askance. "Okay, but you let me know if you bail on work early. We can do another Sister Night tonight, if you want."

"I'll let you know," she said, squeezing her hands once more before pulling back. "You going, uh, _there_ today?" she asked.

"Probably."

"Say hi to Dad for me, okay?"

"Of course. He said to send his love too, by the way."

She smiled. "Thanks. His shift ends in a couple of weeks, right?"

Kara nodded.

"See if he'd mind if his daughters tag along when he gets to go home for a couple of weeks. Even a weekend back home would be nice."

"Ooh, I like that idea," Kara said. She nodded. "I'll let you know what he says."

"Awesome." She smiled, a real one. She hadn't seen her dad in at least five months, while he'd been working out at the desert facility of the super-secret government organization he and Kara worked for. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have any contact with the outside world, not with Alex's mom, not with Alex, not even with Kara as Kara. But Ultrawoman and Dr. Jeremiah Danvers worked closely together. Jeremiah had insisted upon it when they had recruited Kara. Alex didn't know much more than that, but it made her happy that her sister and their father could spend more time together, even if she was sometimes jealous that Kara got to see their father and she didn't.

Alex pulled on her jacket and grabbed the rest of her extra-large coffee. "Text me later."

"I will," Kara said. She frowned. "Hey, did you remember your dream?"

Alex considered. "No, I guess I didn't." She smirked. "Must have drowned it in all the feelings and stuff," she grinned. "Have a good day," she said, turning and walking towards the door.

"You too," Kara called after her.

Alex smiled and raised her coffee in acknowledgement as she walked out the door. She was definitely feeling better.

***

By the time seventeen-hundred rolled around, Alex was ready to call it quits. Her job wasn't glamourous, but it paid well and usually had regular hours. It wasn't like any of the positions her parents had held over the years, where their research was all-consuming. She'd essentially raised herself from around age ten before then taking care of Kara, once she arrived, while her parents were always so busy.

She smiled a goodbye at Ken, one of the newer lab techs, as she left the main lab and to go to the locker room to change. The only major downside to her job was that they worked on some classified samples, so phones were absolutely not permitted outside of the locker room. She pulled off her lab coat and scrubs and hung them up in her locker, also placing her lab sneakers on a shelf in the locker. She then put on her jeans and her sweater and slipped into her boots. She grabbed her jacket and pulled her phone from the pocket, looking for news from Kara.

There was nothing from Kara, but there was a message waiting for her.

DYKE ON A BIKE: How long did it take you to find my contact info? ;)

She grinned and typed back. "My sister found your entry in my phone for me. There I was, just looking for Maggie or Sawyer — you know, something dumb like your actual name — and my sister found this, uh, unconventional entry."

Alex tucked the phone into her jacket's inside pocket and put it on, then shut the locker door. She paused. It was that weird feeling again. She had finally managed to shake her sense of unease, so why was it back now? With a frown, she decided to hit up her favourite bar and get a drink or two.

***

Alex had already had a beer and had moved on to whiskey, with a plate of fries. The uneasiness just wouldn't leave her alone. She was planning on another whiskey and then home to bed where, with any luck, she wouldn't have any more dreams.

Her phone chirped.

DYKE ON A BIKE: Oops. Sorry. Did your sister give you a hard time?

She wiped her fingertips on her napkin and responded. "Nah, but she gave me a weird look."

DYKE ON A BIKE: Sorry. My bad. Onion rings and beer as a peace offering next time we bowl?

She smiled. "Deal." She bit her lower lip in thought. "What are you up to tonight?" she asked. She waited for the response, which came back within moments.

DYKE ON A BIKE: Not much, just planning to go to yoga and then head home, maybe read some of my book or fall asleep in front of the TV. You?

She chewed on her lip again. "I'm at my favourite bar. How are you at pool?"

DYKE ON A BIKE: Legitimately bad.

Alex laughed. "Worse than I am at bowling?"

DYKE ON A BIKE: Hey I didn't say I was abysmal okay.

She grinned. "Wanna come hang out and let me show off my pool skills?" she ventured. She waited nervously for the response. It was weird, right? Why would Maggie want to join her specifically to lose at pool? It was dumb. She was about to text her to say forget it when her phone chirped with her response.

DYKE ON A BIKE: Love to. Where's the bar?

Unable to help herself, she smiled hugely as she sent Maggie the directions.

DYKE ON A BIKE: Be there in ten.

Alex just texted back a smiley face.

The discomfort wouldn't leave her alone, though. She frowned and downed the rest of her whiskey and ordered another beer. She definitely needed more alcohol.

With her fresh bottle of beer, Alex stood up and headed to her favourite pool table. It was still a little early, so the bar wasn't too crowded. She racked the balls and selected a cue that wasn't completely warped. She chalked the tip and walked around the table and broke the rack, satisfied that she'd sunk two balls on the break. Methodically, she cleared the table, sinking shot after shot. She smiled with satisfaction at her skill and then paused; her smile faded. The whole reason she was good at pool was because the Donahues had owned a pool table. She and Vicki would spend hours playing together as teenagers.

She frowned. There was that feeling. Her dream, she was sure it was her dream that was haunting her, was hovering on the cusp of her consciousness. She could almost sense it buried in her memories, hiding from her in a hidden nook. There was a hint of fear there, too, protecting the memory, not letting her access it easily. Every time she tried, it retreated, leaving her even less comfortable. She sighed and swigged at her beer and racked the balls again.

Alex walked back over and placed the cue ball, then leaned over the table, taking careful aim, when she saw a familiar figure walk up to the table.

"Hey," Maggie greeted her. "Looks like I'm just in time to join the game and lose miserably."

She straightened up and leaned on the cue, looking at her companion. She was wearing dark blue skinny jeans with her black leather jacket and a pale grey button-up shirt, with a couple of buttons undone. Her dark, wavy hair virtually flowed down to her shoulders and her dimples were showing up with the easy grin.

"Well," Alex said, "I've had a couple of drinks, so it might not go too badly for you." She smiled brightly. "Can I get you a beer or something?"

"Sure, I'll have what you're having," she said, indicating Alex's beer bottle.

"Be right back," Alex said, laying her cue on the table. "Go get yourself a cue that isn't too crooked," she advised the detective as she headed to the bar to order the beer.

She returned shortly and handed Maggie her bottle. The detective had taken off her jacket and had rolled up her sleeves.

"Thanks," she said, hefting the bottle up towards Alex.

She grabbed her own beer, and they clinked in a silent cheers, looking into each other's eyes before each taking a swig.

"So I'm not used to losing games," Maggie said. "I'd like to apologize in advance if I get cranky," she said, smiling.

"I'll teach you," Alex said, "it'll be fine."

True to her word, Maggie was legitimately bad at pool, but Alex took the opportunity to show her how to find the angles and how to aim for the right spot on the cue ball. After three games, all of which Maggie lost, the detective had still improved over her first attempts.

"Okay, I've had enough humiliation for now," she said, with a smile. "Hungry?"

"Mmm, yes," Alex responded.

Maggie grabbed a bar menu from the table nearest them. "What, no pizza?"

"Oh, uh, no, I guess not," Alex said. "Burgers are good, though."

"I definitely _require_ pizza," Maggie insisted. "There's a place nearby. You up for it?"

Alex shrugged, feeling the effects of the alcohol. It would be good to have some pizza. "Sure," she said.

Together, they left the bar and headed towards a family-owned pizzeria that Maggie swore was the best in National City.

"So, what's on your mind?" Maggie asked, as they walked in the cool, autumn evening.

She blinked. "What, uh, what makes you think there's anything on my mind?" she countered.

"Well, the fact that you're avoiding my question is a big hint," she chuckled. "But aside from that? I can read people pretty well. It comes in handy in my line of work. And it just… it feels like you're struggling with something, or avoiding something."

Alex stopped in her tracks. Maggie stopped and turned a couple of steps later.

"How?" Alex asked, quietly.

She shrugged. "Wanna talk about it?"

The panic, the fear, fluttered closer. "I, um…" She took a breath. "I mean, I…"

"Hey, hey," Maggie said, taking a step closer. She put her hands on Alex's upper arms. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about anything, okay? I can distract you instead, if you like."

Alex laughed, her eyes tearing up from the unexpected swell of emotion. "Uh, yeah, I think, uh, distracting me is good for right now. If that's okay."

Maggie nodded and squeezed Alex's arms before putting her hands back in her jacket pockets. "No problem," she said. "Let me tell you about my lieutenant who is a major asshat."

She smiled and nodded and together, they walked to the pizza place, while Maggie rambled on about Lieutenant Preston who, in all fairness, sounded like a major asshat.

Once at the pizza place, called _Il Forno_ , Alex's mouth watered at the delicious aromas in the small restaurant. "I've never been here before."

"I come here all the time," Maggie said.

"Yeah?" Alex asked. "I live three blocks away, just up north a bit."

"I'm six blocks uh… west," Maggie responded. "Weird that we've never met before."

"Yeah, definitely," Alex agreed.

"Hey, Antonio!" Maggie said, waving to the heavy-set Italian man tossing some dough in the air.

"Buona sera, bella!" he hollered with a smile.

She returned the smile and approached the counter, where a teenage boy, around fifteen or sixteen, waited.

"Hey Paolo," she said.

"Maggie, what's up?" he asked. He looked over at Alex. "New girlfriend?"

Alex flushed. "No, no, I — uh, we're…"

"She's just a friend, Paolo," Maggie chided him.

"Ooh, you're bringing a beautiful straight girl here? Not worried that Santo or Sal will come back from their deliveries and steal her heart?" he teased.

"Shush," she said. "Alex, what do you like on your pizza?"

Still blushing some, she shrugged. "What do you like?"

"Here? I have to recommend the margherita."

She frowned. "That's like, just a cheese pizza, right?"

"House sauce, mozzarella, basil and olive oil," Paolo added, helpfully.

"That's it?"

"Our pizza is so good, you don't need anything beyond the basics," he boasted.

"That good?" she asked Maggie.

"Trust me."

She shrugged. "Okay."

Maggie considered. "Want to eat here or do you want to go to your place or mine instead?" She looked at Alex seriously. "In case you want to talk?"

She took a breath. "Yeah, okay, my place. If that's okay with you."

"Sure," Maggie replied. "One large margherita to go, please, Paolo."

"Coming right up," he said. "Tony! Large marge for the lovely Maggie, per favore!"

"Si, si, eight minutes!" Antonio bellowed back.

"Anything to drink?" Paolo asked.

Maggie looked at Alex.

"I've got beer and soda at my place," she said.

"Nah, we're good, thanks, Paolo." She handed him a twenty-dollar bill. "You know the rules," she said, as he took it.

He sighed. "The tip goes to my college fund," he said, rolling his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

She released the bill. "Good."

Alex smiled at the scene in front of her. "You really do come here a lot, don't you?"

"Three or four times a week," Paolo informed her.

She blinked and looked at Maggie. "How on earth do you stay in shape? Just bowling?"

Maggie grinned. "I bowl, do yoga, go to the gym. And work can be active, too."

Alex nodded. "Tell me about your work."

"Well, in the Science Division, we handle all the weird stuff. We're like the X-Files department of the NCPD, except we all acknowledge aliens exist, obviously."

She grinned at that.

"So anything to do with aliens, weird stuff that's unusual, that sort of thing. Oh, and we liaise with Ultrawoman as needed," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Not a fan?" Alex asked, trying to keep her protective older sister side in check.

She shrugged. "She's great when there's another alien to take down. I just… she doesn't follow police procedure when dealing with humans."

"So?"

"Well, imagine a suspect being injured by Ultrawoman. Or evidence being destroyed. Or any number of complications," she said, the frustration clear in her voice. "It causes so much extra work and jeopardizes our efforts. And hers, too, frankly."

Alex considered. "Have you guys talked to her about it?"

She nodded. "My lieutenant, hell, my _captain_ has spoken to her about it, but she has this irritating tendency to go in headfirst."

Alex hummed in agreement. "I guess that's one way to describe her." She made a mental note to ask her sister to be nicer to the cops.

"So what about you? What do you do, exactly?"

She shrugged. "Run tests in a lab, mostly. Research too, of course. And I have some personal projects. But a lot of lab work for the feds."

Maggie nodded. "So classified stuff? You must have secret clearance, then?"

"I do," she said, "though not top secret. That's my boss." She considered. "You?"

"Secret clearance too," she said. "Liaising with whatever feds Ultrawoman has working with her. Kind of a necessity," she explained.

Alex nodded. She suddenly laughed. "We're standing in a _pizza place_ discussing secret clearances and classified stuff. How weird is that?"

She chuckled. "Well, no one can accuse us of not being able to hold a conversation, right?" she asked.

"Right," she answered. It was odd, how comfortable she was with Maggie. They'd come a long way from that initial meeting where Maggie had thought Alex and Kara had been dating.

The pizza came out of the oven and Paolo boxed it quickly. "In the oven on the top rack for 90 seconds if it's cooled too much," he said.

"I know, kid," Maggie grinned. "Thanks."

Together, the women headed to Alex's apartment. She wasn't even sure why they were going to her place, but she didn't mind. She wasn't planning on… _talking_ … about anything with Maggie, but it would be nice to be home at any rate. She unlocked her front door and flipped on the lights, letting Maggie in.

The shorter woman walked right to the counter separating the kitchen from the rest of the room and opened the box. "Ooh, I think we got here in time," she said, shutting it quickly. "It's still pretty hot."

"Awesome," Alex said, tossing her jacket on the stuffed armchair and slipping off her boots. She went into the kitchen and got plates and utensils, laying them out on the counter, then a couple of napkins. "Beer?"

"Please," Maggie said.

Alex grabbed two out of the fridge and popped the caps off with the bottle opener magnet that lived on her fridge door.

Maggie had served them each a big slice. The pizza was incredibly thin and the tip of the piece drooped, but the rest of the crust held the weight of the slice pretty well.

"Go on," Maggie said, "while it's hot."

Alex picked up her slice and took a bite. It was possibly the most delicious thing she'd ever eaten. The crust was crispy yet still doughy. The sauce was just the right touch of tangy. The melted cheese was unlike any mozzarella she'd ever tasted. The basil and olive oil just added to the sensory experience. "Oh my god, this is amazing," she managed to say, around her mouthful.

"Right?"

"Like holy shit, this is fantastic," she said, settling down in her seat, next to Maggie.

"Best pizza in town," Maggie said, smiling, as she took her own first taste.

"How did you find it?"

Maggie chewed and then swallowed quickly. "A friend on the force told me about it. He grew up in the area and the restaurant's been around for at least 25 years. Probably more, really."

"Well, thanks to your friend," Alex said. "I will definitely start going there." She took another large bite.

"Maybe we'll run into one another sometime," Maggie said.

Alex nodded. "Or, like, you know, plan to go together, too," she said, smiling.

"I'd like that."

"Me too," Alex said. She chewed pensively. The unease, the anxiety, that had been following her all day was getting stronger.

"Penny for your thoughts," the detective said, quietly.

"How do you _do_ that?" Alex laughed.

"I'm a detective." She shrugged. "I detect."

Alex smiled. She briefly considered lying to her but thought better. "It's, uh, it's what was bugging me before, when we were on the way to the pizza place."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Maggie started, "but if you want to, I'm here."

Alex looked up at her. Maggie had tilted her head to the side, her eyes locked on her own, reassuring in their strength.

She forced a chuckle. "That's the dumb thing. I don't even know what it is."

"What _what_ is?" Maggie asked, gently.

Alex sighed and took a swig of her beer. "I had a dream last night. I don't remember it at all. But all day long, I've just had this… this… _sense of unease_ ," she said, finally. "And it won't leave me alone. And every time I try to, like, _reach_ for the dream, it hides even deeper in my brain," she said, frustration evident in her voice. She took a breath. "And it's scary because I can just… I can just sort of sense the edges of panic when I get close." She shook her head. "Was that even understandable?"

Maggie nodded. "Do you have any idea what it could be related to?"

She sighed. "It's kind of a long story."

"I've got time."

Alex laughed. "Okay. So, back in high school, I had a best friend. Her name was Vicki Donahue, and we were completely, totally, absolutely inseparable."

Maggie nodded, listening, while finishing another slice of pizza.

"And, well, we had a falling out at the end of high school. Over some guy. A guy she ended up marrying." She sighed. "And I know my dream had _something_ to do with Vicki. This strange feeling I've had all day, it gets worse when I think about her."

"Has she been on your mind a lot?"

"For the last couple of days, yeah."

"In what context?"

Alex gave a weak laugh. "All the contexts?" She downed the rest of her beer. "The last time I went bowling, before that time last month, that was with Vicki, so I thought about her yesterday. And even though I've played pool literally hundreds, if not thousands of times since the end of high school, I learned how to play pool at Vicki's because her family owned a pool table."

Maggie nodded. "Any significant dates coming up that remind you of her?"

Alex frowned. "Nope. Her birthday's in March, so that's still six months away."

"Is there something in your life that's making you remember Vicki now because there are some similarities between now and then?"

Alex stood and paced between the couch and her small dining table. "I don't think so," she said. "Work is the same. Kara, my sister, is the same. Parents are the same."

Maggie turned in her seat and took a drink from her beer.

"Any thoughts?"

"Well," Maggie said, drawing out the word a little, "getting to know me is different, isn't it?"

"How so?"

"I'm new in your life," she said, with a shrug. "Aren't I the difference between your control sample of normalcy and right now?"

Alex frowned. "I mean, yeah, but… why would you make me think of Vicki?"

Maggie spread her hands out. "I'm not sure. Are we anything alike?"

She considered, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, you're both smart. And easy to talk to." She tapped her left bicep with her right fingertips. "You're both pretty." She shook her head. "But she was obsessed with boys and being popular and always worried what people would think of her." She looked up at Maggie. "You don't strike me as that kind of person."

The detective smiled. "Well, thank you for the compliments," she said, raising her beer bottle in Alex's direction. "And you're right, I don't really care much what other people think of me. That's what happens when you get kicked out for being gay when you're fourteen." She took a swig of her beer.

"Wait, what?" Alex said, arms falling to her side. She moved back to sit by Maggie at the counter. "You got kicked out of your house?"

She shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

"That's awful," she said. An ache had appeared in her chest on behalf of teenage Maggie. "I'm so sorry," she said, aware it wouldn't do anything, wouldn't fix anything.

"Thanks," she said. "My aunt took me in, so it could have been worse. But, the experience taught me that what other people think ultimately doesn't matter, because if they're going to judge you over something stupid like not wearing the right sneakers or using the right highlighters or being gay, they're not people you want in your life, anyway." She took another long swig.

Alex's thoughts were jumbled as she picked up on a few things about Maggie. Sure, she was this self-assured, smart, beautiful, fun person, but… There was something beneath the surface. A traumatic event like getting kicked out, that didn't heal quickly. Sometimes, a trauma like that would never fully heal, and she wondered what scars that had left on Maggie's psyche, particularly at such a young age.

She grabbed her beer and held it out to Maggie to clink. Maggie's eyes met hers as the necks of the bottles met in a light toast. "To not caring what other people think," she said, softly.

Maggie nodded, and they both took long drinks.

They finished the pizza, and more beer, as they chatted over the next several hours. They covered everything from Maggie's first girlfriend and Alex's first boyfriend to more about Maggie's aunt taking her in and Alex's family adopting Kara. Before they knew it, it was nearly oh-one-hundred-thirty in the morning.

"I should go," Maggie said, trying not to yawn.

"Don't be silly," Alex replied, "just stay over."

"Are you sure? I'm not that far away," Maggie argued.

She scoffed. "I would feel better not needing to worry if you got home safely."

Maggie laughed. "I'm a cop, I'm pretty sure I'd be okay," she said, pointing to her sidearm in its holster, sitting on Alex's kitchen counter.

"I insist," Alex said, standing and going up the steps to the bedroom area of her loft. She opened her closet and pulled open a drawer, grabbing a pair of old, grey shorts she'd made out of sweatpants when the knees had finally worn out. She pulled out one of her favourite t-shirts, too, and tossed them both towards Maggie. She pulled out an extra towel and facecloth and put them in the bathroom.

"Thanks," Maggie said. "Uh, can I steal a pillow for the couch?"

Alex snorted. "Have you seen my bed? It's huge. We can share."

"Uh."

"What? My sister and I do it all the time."

"Yeah, but that's your _sister_. You shared a room with her growing up. You basically just met me," Maggie argued.

"Do you really want to sleep on the couch?" Alex asked.

"No…" Maggie rubbed the back of her neck. "I just… I don't want to impose or anything. And I don't want to make it, like, weird."

"Listen, as long as you're okay with the side nearest the windows, it's not going to be weird," Alex insisted.

Maggie glanced over at the bed. "That's my preferred side, actually."

"Perfect. It's settled." She looked at Maggie. "You want to wash up first? Oh, and sorry, I don't have a spare toothbrush."

"Oh, no, that's fine," she said. "Thanks." She picked up the clothes and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Quickly, Alex shucked her own clothes and pulled on her t-shirt and leggings. With any luck, she'd be asleep in the next few minutes and sleep like the dead until her alarm sounded at oh-six-hundred-thirty. With no dreams.

Maggie came out of the bathroom, her clothes neatly folded under her arm, wearing a bright orange t-shirt with _Hello, Sunshine_ on it. She set her clothes down on the coffee table. "Thanks," she said.

"Of course," Alex responded. "Uh, what time do you wake up?"

"Oh-six-hundred? Sometimes oh-seven-hundred."

Alex nodded. "My alarm goes off at oh-six-hundred-thirty."

"Sounds good."

"Okay, I'm just gonna wash up real quick," she said, and ducked into the washroom. She brushed her teeth and washed her face and used the facilities before washing her hands and going back out into the living space. It was a little weird, Alex allowed, as she turned out the lights in the living room, and walked up to her bed, where Maggie was already under the covers.

"I've left the lights in the bathroom on low for you," Alex said, as she got into bed and plugged in her phone, setting the alarm.

"Thanks," Maggie said.

"All good?" she asked.

"Yep, thanks again."

"Sure." She reached over and turned out her light while Maggie did the same. "Goodnight," she said, quietly.

"Goodnight," Maggie replied.

Alex clasped her hands over her stomach, on top of the covers, and shut her eyes. Finally, it was time to sleep. Hopefully, she'd be able to avoid any dreams like the one that had plagued her all day.

***

Slowly, Alex realized she was waking up, but it was surprisingly hard to differentiate reality from her dream, since in both places, she was curled up, warm and safe. She was on her left side and her right arm was flung out, wrapped around a pillow, as usual.

Her sleepy brain pointed out that didn't make sense. Pillows didn't move.

Confused, Alex cracked open her right eye. She was even more confused because something dark was blocking her view of her arm.

She frowned and slowly lifted her head from the pillow, dark hair falling away from her eyes.

_Maggie._

Panic flooded her entire body as she realized she was curled up to Maggie, nuzzled into her shoulder, her right arm outstretched and curled around Maggie's midsection, which moved up and down as the other woman breathed deeply. Worse, Maggie's arm was around Alex's own shoulders. Her heart racing, Alex held her breath and carefully extracted her arm from Maggie's torso, then gently pulled Maggie's arm up and placing it carefully on the bed between them. Finally, she rolled slowly over to her right, away from Maggie.

She exhaled quietly, having moved without waking her guest. She glanced at the clock. It was just about oh-six-hundred. She considered getting up, but part of her just wanted to curl back up with Maggie.

She frowned. There was something familiar about that desire. Something about Vicki. Something about her dreams.

It hit her then, her dream breaking wide open, causing her to gasp audibly.

It hadn't been Vicki she'd been dreaming about. It had been _Maggie_.

She'd dreamt about holding the other woman close, as they slept, dreamt about her fingertips tracing the soft skin of Maggie's abdomen. She'd dreamt about the warmth of the other woman's arms around her and the utter relief inherent in being so free and intimate with someone else.

Alex got out of the bed as quickly as she could without waking Maggie. She grabbed her running outfit and changed quickly in the washroom. She pocketed her keys and phone, not even leaving a note for Maggie as she left her apartment, already jogging down the flights of stairs and then taking off at a dead run towards the nearby track.

***

It was oh-seven-hundred-twenty by the time she made it back to her apartment, exhausted and soaked with sweat. Thankfully, Maggie was nowhere to be found. Alex wouldn't have known what to say to her.

She locked the door behind her and saw a note on the kitchen counter.

_"Alex,_

_Thanks for the hospitality last night. I hope it wasn't too weird and that I didn't snore._

_Anyway, I had fun chatting with you and even enjoyed pool — a first!_

_Hope you have a good day._

_-M_

_PS: Bowling soon?"_

She put the note back down and stripped as she walked to the bathroom. She needed to shower.

During her run, it had dawned on Alex that it was possible that she had been pushing down a lot of feelings about many things for several years, and Maggie's appearance in her life might be causing those feelings to bubble back up, through her dreams.

Worse, she _ached_ to relive those moments from her dreams. Within them, she had experienced a kind of peace she hadn't had since… well, since Vicki.

As she let the hot water hit her, she reviewed things in her mind, yet again.

_Maggie's gay. Maggie has made at least two separate comments insinuating or implying that I'm also gay._

She paused in her ruminations to shampoo her hair.

 _I_ _'ve felt like this before,_ she thought, massaging her scalp. _With Vicki_.

She sighed and leaned against the wall of the shower.

 _And I dreamt about Maggie the night before last. And last night. Both times, curled up with her, holding her._ She swallowed. _Like I was actually doing this morning._

She shook her head and stood under the water again, letting the powerful spray wash away the soap.

_The last time I felt like that was definitely with Vicki. So what, was I into Vicki? And am I now into Maggie?_

She applied conditioner to her hair and started washing herself with body soap. _Don_ _'t be stupid,_ she told herself, _you can_ _'t just turn your entire life upside down because of a couple of stupid dreams. That's ridiculous._

She had been single for years. It had to just be a function of her desire to be close to someone. And if the coolest new person she had met was Maggie, weren't the dreams just a logical result?

Alex rinsed out the conditioner from her hair and the soap from the rest of her body. That made a lot more sense than… well, than anything else Alex could come up with.

Right?

***

So Alex did what she was good at doing — burying herself in work. She ignored texts and calls from Maggie. She avoided Sister Nights with Kara, claiming work was too busy. Two weeks passed before she knew it and she and Kara were scheduled to go back to Midvale on the Friday evening and stay until Sunday afternoon.

While the government had flown Jeremiah back to Midvale on a private jet during the day on Friday, Alex flew via Air Kara later that evening, the two of them arriving just in time for a home-cooked meal.

It was nice, the family all sitting together for the first time in months, laughing, joking, teasing. Alex and Kara tidied up after dinner, leaving their parents to spend some quality time together. Then, while Kara quickly headed back to National City for a late-night patrol, Alex unpacked her few belongings she'd brought, placing the clothing into a drawer of her childhood dresser. She saw a flash of orange and rolled her eyes. She hadn't meant to grab the shirt she'd loaned Maggie that night, but Kara had been pestering her to hurry, so she'd just lifted a bunch of clean clothes into her overnight bag.

At least Maggie had stopped trying to contact her. She felt moderately badly about it, to be fair, but she'd decided that it was best to just stay away from Maggie. And bowling. And that pizza place.

Rather than sit in her childhood bedroom and over-think things, she wandered downstairs to get a glass of wine and joined her parents by the fire in the living room.

"I'll let you catch up," Eliza said, squeezing Jeremiah's hand before draining her wine and standing. "Don't stay up too late, you two," she chided, good-naturedly.

"We won't," Jeremiah promised.

"Night, Mom," Alex said.

"Goodnight," she said, taking her glass to the kitchen before heading upstairs.

"It's good to see you, Alex," Jeremiah said, smiling at her.

"Same here," she said. "I've really missed you."

"Me too," he said. "It's nice to see Kara so often, but you're my slugger," he said.

She smiled at the nickname. "I'm glad you get to see Kara too. I just don't understand why they won't let you even call me or Mom."

He sighed. "It's all max-level security clearance stuff, kiddo," he said. "They're worried I'm a target of sorts. That's why there's the armed guards outside, even here. It's just safer to keep everything at the base, including me, so I don't make you or your mother a target by proxy."

"How much longer?" she asked.

He blew out a breath and she smiled as she recognized the habit as one of her own. "Well, the initial agreement was a year. That term is about over, but it looks like they have to add at least another year to it," he said. "I'm sorry."

She sighed and shrugged. "You're doing important stuff," she said, as if that explained everything.

"I am," he assured her, "and I'm working hard so I can be done sooner and then just retire."

Alex laughed. "You? Retire? Come on, you'd be so bored you wouldn't know what to do with yourself!"

He chuckled. "Okay, that's fair," he agreed. "Retire from all the top secret stuff. I could go back to teaching. Or, a brilliant scientist could put in a good word for me at the lab she works at?" he hinted.

She grinned. "They couldn't afford you."

"Yeah, but somehow, I think I'd be okay with a pay cut to spend time with my best girl."

She smiled. "I'd like that." She sighed. "I really miss our talks."

"Me too," he acknowledged. "Your sister's kept me mostly up to date, but hasn't said a word about your personal life. You seeing anyone?"

"Dad," she groaned.

"What? It's an honest question!" He took a sip of his wine. "Or did someone break your heart? Should I beat him up?"

She smiled. "I'm single and it's fine." She shrugged. "I don't meet a lot of new people and most people I meet just aren't that interesting."

"Oh, that reminds me," he said, "do you know a Detective Sawyer?"

Her eyes widened. "Uh, Maggie Sawyer? From the NCPD?"

He nodded. "Her, yeah."

"Sort of," she admitted. "Why? How do you know her?"

"I've been liaising with a Lieutenant Preston in the Science Division of the NCPD. Alex, let me tell you, this guy…"

"… is a major asshat?"

"Yes!" Jeremiah laughed. "Yes, he is!"

She smiled. "Yeah, Maggie and I… we're sort of friends. She told me all about Preston."

"Well, I met Maggie the other day when Preston wasn't available and she asked me if I had a daughter named Alex, then she stopped, probably realizing I couldn't tell her much. So instead, she just said the oddest thing."

She raised an eyebrow.

"She said that _if_ I did have a daughter named Alex and _if_ I talked to her soon, to tell her she understands it's too weird and it's cool and she hopes you're okay."

Alex blinked.

"Yeah, that was my reaction, too." He took a sip of wine. "What was too weird?"

She sighed. "You ever feel like you've known someone for a very long time even though you've just met?"

He nodded.

"It was like that. We were super comfortable with one another and she came over and we had a pizza and drinks and I told her she could spend the night in my bed."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Not like… not like _that_ ," she said, quickly. "I mean, she's gay, but I'm not, so it was fine, but it was weird and… Yeah. It was weird."

"She didn't… try anything, did she?" he asked.

"DAD! God, no, no, it's nothing like that."

"Good," he said, sitting back. "So how was it weird?"

She paused. She hadn't even told Kara that she'd remembered her dreams. Or how she'd had several more of them in the last two weeks. "Remember Vicki Donahue?" she asked.

He nodded. "She was such a nice girl. Whatever happened with you two?"

"We got into a fight and I was stubborn and we were both stupid and, well that's how that ended. But, uh, I think… I think Maggie could have been a new Vicki Donahue."

"And that's weird?"

She shrugged. "It was like we were too close, too fast," she said, skimming over the details.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, kiddo," he said.

"I know," she said. "I just didn't feel comfortable."

He nodded. "You don't like to open up to people."

She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"It's not like it's classified information," he teased her. "And honestly, your mom and I, we blame ourselves. We brought in Kara and paid more attention to her because of her needs, and just relied on you to be more of a grownup than a kid. So you never really learned how to, well, be vulnerable, because you were too busy taking care of your invulnerable kid sister."

She thought about it. Could there be some truth to what he was saying? While it wasn't the prime reason she'd pushed Maggie away, maybe it was one reason she had spent the last couple of weeks avoiding the other woman.

"Think about it," he said, standing up and coming over to kiss her on the top of her head. "Don't stay up too late," he said.

"I won't, _Mom_ ," she teased.

He ruffled her hair. "Night, Alex."

"Night, Dad."

***

The next morning, she went surfing instead of running. She'd had another dream. It had started out similarly, Maggie and her entangled in bed together, but Maggie had turned into Vicki Donahue somewhere during the dream and then she'd woken up while reliving the shouting match at the end of their friendship. It hadn't been pleasant and there was no way she would get back to sleep, so at oh-five-hundred-fifty-seven, she'd quietly gotten out of bed, careful not to wake Kara across the room, and pulled her bathing suit from the dresser. She changed in the bathroom and grabbed a beach towel before heading downstairs to the cabana where she picked up her favourite surfboard and her wetsuit. It was a shorty suit, one that had short sleeves and only came down to just above her knees. She walked the couple of minutes down to the water's edge and took a deep breath in the early morning light. The sea air never failed to calm her. She tugged on the suit, zipped up and then ran into the water, diving forward after a few steps. It was important to get the suit wet so it would trap the water between the suit and her body, allowing her body to warm it, which then would keep her warm.

With a smile, she swam back to the shore and got her board, eager to spend an hour or so out on the water.

Though it had been a while since she'd gone surfing, it was like riding a bike. Effortlessly, she paddled out and caught wave after wave, small though they were, letting the salty air and water cleanse her soul. Whenever she could talk to her dad, or go surfing, or both, it served to re-center her. Particularly that morning, it allowed Alex to let go of the stress, anxiety and tension from the last couple of weeks. It was good to be home, even if it was just for a couple of days.

Feeling a thousand times better, Alex got out of the water after about ninety minutes and shimmied out of the wetsuit and dried herself off with the towel. She wrapped it around her torso and carried the suit and board back to the cabana before letting herself back into the house where everyone was apparently still asleep.

"Well, at least I get dibs on the shower," she grinned to herself as she tip-toed up the stairs.

***

After a delightful brunch, Kara had flown back to National City on another quick patrol, while Alex went to get a decent cup of coffee from her favourite coffee shop about a fifteen-minute walk away.

It was always weird, being back in Midvale. She was at ease, walking down familiar streets, but also too large for the cramped bedroom from her childhood. The dichotomy of familiarity versus the knowledge that she didn't _quite_ belong there anymore always threw her for a loop, and it was always worse when she hadn't visited for several months.

She arrived at the coffee shop and ordered her coffee and paid, before she heard a familiar voice.

"Alex Danvers? Is that you?"

 _Please, please, please don_ _'t let it be…_ She swallowed and turned around to see none other than Vicki Donahue standing right behind her in line.

She forced a smile. "Hey, Vicki."

Her former friend embraced her tightly, and Alex, taken off-guard, brought her arms up to pat Vicki on the back, awkwardly.

"My goodness, Alex, you look great!" she exclaimed, pulling back and looking her over. "Life in National City must agree with you!"

She smiled. "I'm happy, yeah," she said. "And you look the same, Vicki, you haven't changed at all."

"You're just saying that," she chuckled.

Alex was definitely being polite, but it was fairly true. Her friend looked older, as she did herself, but her reddish-brown hair was still long and wavy, and Vicki's smile, which she'd always loved, was still intact.

"No," she insisted, "for real."

Vicki smiled. "I'd love to catch up. Do you have a few minutes?" she asked. "I mean you're probably busy with your family and stuff, but…"

She considered it. "No, no, I absolutely have some time," she said, throwing caution to the wind. Whatever she was feeling regarding Maggie, it had started with Vicki. This could be a good opportunity to clear the air, get some closure and such.

Alex grabbed a table once her order was ready and waited for Vicki to join her. She quickly texted Kara to let her know of the development and put her phone down on the table.

Vicki joined her shortly. "So crazy to see you here, just randomly," she said. "Is your sister in town, too?"

She nodded. "We're here for the weekend, just seeing the folks, you know."

"Oh, your parents were always so nice. How are they? They're well?"

"Yeah, both of them are fine." She paused. "And you? And your family?"

"Oh, we're all good. My parents are fine, my brother's good — he moved to Metropolis last year. Chad and I are celebrating five years next May," she said, showing off her wedding ring and the fairly large diamond on her engagement ring.

"Right, Chad," she nodded. "So you guys ended up together?" she asked, even though she knew full-well they had.

"We did, we did. We've got a little girl, just turned two."

Alex smiled. "What's her name?"

"Faith," she answered. "Faith Alexandra."

She raised an eyebrow.

"After Chad's grandmother," Vicki clarified, "but I didn't hate it. You know I always loved your name."

"While I've always hated the full version."

Vicki chuckled. "Well, you were going through a rough time, obviously," she said. "I take it life in the big city is better?"

She shrugged. "It's good. Like I said, I'm happy."

"I'm so pleased to hear that, Alex," Vicki said, sincerely. "So do you have a partner?"

She blinked. "A partner? No, I'm a scientist in a private lab."

Vicki giggled. "No, silly, I mean do you have a _partner_?"

She frowned. "Uh… what?"

"Come on, Alex, it's me. You don't have to hide who you are from me. I figured it out right after high school."

"Figured _what_ out?"

"That you're gay. And you were in love with me during high school."

Alex just gawked at her.

"Oh, Alex, come on. We're adults. It all happened so long ago. I mean, of _course_ that's why you objected to my dating Chad! Of _course_ that's why you were so hurt when I said yes when he asked me out. It's all just so perfectly obvious."

She blinked. "Uh, Vicki, I, uh…"

Vicki sighed. "Do you really expect me to believe that you were jealous of _me_ when I started dating Chad? That you weren't jealous of _Chad_?"

Alex swallowed. Everything Vicki was saying was making sense. Suddenly, it didn't seem to be such a crazy leap to think that her dreams were telling her something.

"Alex?"

She forced herself to take a breath. Every instinct she had was telling her to get out, to run, to leave. She resisted the urge, remembering her conversation with her father about vulnerability. "That's the funny thing, Vicki," she said, "I think I'm just starting to realize what you seem to have realized a long time ago."

"What do you mean?"

"It started with a dream," she began, and proceeded to tell Vicki the entire story of the last two weeks. On the one hand, she was fairly anxious about it. It was the first time she was saying some of these words aloud, after all, and it was terrifying. On the other hand, though, this was _Vicki_. And it was so good to confide in her again, like they had when they were fifteen, sharing secrets while curled up in Vicki's bed together.

"Oh, Alex," her friend breathed, after she'd finished talking. She reached out and took Alex's hands in her own. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

She laughed, weakly. "Neither did I, apparently."

"Well, it seems to me that if you're dreaming about this girl, and you're reminded of us as kids…"

She sighed. "If I liked you, then maybe I like her. Right?"

Vicki squeezed her hands gently. "Maybe."

Alex pulled back. "But the weird thing is, I never… wanted to like, kiss you, or whatever," she said.

"Thanks?" laughed Vicki.

Alex blushed. "I mean, like, it…" She exhaled. "Whatever I felt for you, it wasn't overtly sexual. Or romantic."

"Bullshit," Vicki said, bluntly.

"What?"

"It might not have been sexual, but you were the most romantic person on the whole planet, Alex Danvers."

She frowned. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Our friendship is resplendent with examples of you being an incredibly thoughtful, caring, generous person."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Did you forget sophomore year when my Homecoming date ditched me at the last minute and so instead of us going stag, we went together? You even got me a corsage."

Alex chuckled. "That was a good night," she smiled.

"What about when I broke my leg, and you literally carried my bag and books to all of my classes, even the ones we weren't in together?"

"Listen, any friend should have done that for you," she argued.

"But only you did," she pointed out. "And let us not forget the thing that always made me smile: the Cheer Up Vicki mix CD."

"Oh God," she said, burying her face in her hands. "Not the mix CD."

"Oh, yeah, the mix CD," she laughed. "I still have it. The first three songs were James Blunt's _You_ _'re Beautiful_ , Foo Fighters _Best of You_ and _Falling for the First Time_ by Barenaked Ladies."

"In my defense," Alex said, sitting up and letting her hands drop, revealing her flushed face, "you loved _all_ those songs. And there were other songs, too!"

"And most of them shared the tone! Though, to be honest, it wasn't even me who connected the dots. Chad found the CD a few years ago and asked which ex-boyfriend of mine had made it for me. And so things started to click."

Alex sighed. "Wish things had clicked for me back then, too," she muttered. "Anyway, my point was, I didn't… want to kiss you."

"Did you want to kiss boys?"

"I mean, not particularly."

Vicki considered. "So if you didn't want to kiss me, what _did_ you want?"

Alex smiled, remembering the height of their friendship. "You. Your attention. Your friendship. Your…" She paused, suddenly shy, not wanting to be too vulnerable, but pushed through. "Your love. Oh, and definitely your hugs." She drained the remnants of her coffee. "I remember thinking to myself, more than once, that I… I loved you more than you loved me. And I could never really explain it," she said, wistfully. "I always felt like I was more invested in the friendship than you were."

"Which is kind of silly, right? I mean, you were my very best friend. Like my sister. I loved you so damn much, Alex."

"I'm sorry," Alex said, instantly. "For the fight. For being stubborn. For not understanding myself well enough to know what was happening."

Vicki paused and took in a shaky breath. "I'm sorry I couldn't be what you wanted me to be," she said.

"How could you have been, when even I didn't know what that was?"

They sat there together for a moment, quietly. For her part, Alex was trying to control her emotions, trying not to mourn outwardly the loss of what she was now understanding was her first love.

"So tell me about Maggie," Vicki finally said, breaking the moment, for which Alex was grateful.

"She's smart, and she's funny… and she bowls!" Alex said, excitedly. She launched into telling Vicki all about the other woman.

"Well, she sounds great. So here's the important question: do you want to kiss Maggie?"

She flushed again. "I mean, I don't think I'd say no if she kissed me. Just to, you know, see if it's different from the guys I've been kissing for the last decade-plus of my life."

"And the dreams?"

She sighed. "I don't know if it's just because I'm lonely or if it's because I'm remembering our sleepovers, but I keep wanting to be in that safe spot. With her."

"Your dreams sound quite intimate," she commented.

"I guess they are." She smiled. "There was nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning with you. It was just so… peaceful."

"I'm glad you have fond memories of our friendship, Al."

"I'm glad you're not still mad at me."

She smiled across the table. "I've missed you. A lot."

"Me too."

Vicki's phone rang. "Sorry, one sec," she apologized. "Hey hon, you'll never believe who I ran into at the coffee shop. No. No." She rolled her eyes. "No. I'm telling you, you'll never guess. Alex Danvers. Yes! Insane, right?" She drummed her fingers on the table. "Okay, I'll be back soon. Thanks, babe, love you." She hung up the phone. "I'm so sorry, but I've got to run. I just dropped by for coffee before going on a diaper run, and we are now, officially, out of diapers," she smiled.

"Sounds like an emergency," Alex said.

"You have _no_ idea," Vicki laughed. "Listen, here's my number," she said, scribbling it down on a napkin. "I'd love to keep in touch."

Alex nodded. "I'd like that," she said.

"And promise me you'll keep me posted on the Maggie stuff," Vicki said, standing.

She smiled and stood, tucking the napkin in her pocket. "I will."

Vicki embraced her again and Alex was ready for it this time. She let herself fall into the hug, just like she used to. "I've missed your hugs," she confessed.

"I've missed yours." Vicki pulled back and kissed Alex lightly on the cheek. "Don't be a stranger, now," she said, picking up her purse.

"I won't. I promise."

"Safe travels back to the city, Alex."

"Thanks," she said. And then Vicki walked out of the café, leaving Alex alone with her thoughts.

***

As soon as Alex got back to the city, courtesy of her sister again, she immediately made the decision to channel her inner romantic. Rather than just text or call Maggie and apologize, for fear of being rejected, Alex embarked upon a grand plan to apologize to the detective.

The first thing she did was call the bowling alley to see if Maggie's friend, Sam, would let her know when Maggie was liable to show up. Sam wasn't working, so she changed tactics and asked the alley to bill her credit card for $100 and make sure Maggie didn't have to pay for a lane or shoes or anything until that credit was all used up. She added a healthy tip to the bill to ensure her anonymity.

"Why don't you want her to know it's you?" the man on the phone had asked.

"She's a detective," Alex pointed out, "if she wants to know so badly who it is, she can detect."

Next, she found the pizza place and lucked out when Paolo picked up. After a long conversation wherein Alex discovered his loyalties clearly laid with Maggie, she bribed him with an extra $100, none of which needed to go into his college fund. Shortly thereafter, Alex had paid for Maggie's next five pizzas.

Finally, she ordered five deliveries of flowers to Maggie at the police station. Monday, she'd get a half-dozen yellow roses. On Tuesday, she'd get six peach-coloured ones. Wednesday would bring six pink roses to Maggie's desk, while Thursday would bring a half-dozen red roses and, to cap off the week, she'd receive a dozen white roses on Friday. Only the Friday arrangement would have a card and it would read:

_Dear Maggie,_

_I'm so sorry I've been such a jerk. Can I interest you in a few frames tonight, my treat? I'll be at the alley at twenty-hundred, hope to see you there._

_\- Alex_

_PS: I'll probably be the one throwing gutter balls._

At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. As the week dragged on, though, Alex found it increasingly difficult not to just text Maggie. On Tuesday night, she and Kara were hanging out, and she spilled everything to her sister — the dreams, the conversation with Jeremiah, the entire conversation with Vicki… and her potential feelings for Maggie.

"No matter what, I'm here for you and I love you. You know that, right?"

Alex smiled and nodded. "I know. Thank you."

"So. What can I do to help?"

And that's how Kara got roped into casually flying by NCPD to gauge Maggie's reaction on Wednesday morning.

"Well?" Alex texted her impatiently.

KARA: There may have been some blushing and hiding of her face in her hands.

"In a good way? A bad way?"

KARA: There may have also been some teasing by her colleagues.

Alex paled.

KARA: But she seemed to like them. She leaned in and smelled them and smiled.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Thanks, Kara."

KARA: Happy to help, Alex. Text you later!

By the time Friday arrived, Alex was nervous. She was at the alley by nineteen-hundred-thirty and reserved the same lane they'd bowled at together, lane number one. She hadn't received a text or call or anything from Maggie even though the note had her name on it. She was starting to think Maggie wouldn't show up. She got a beer from the bar and started bowling. She was still bad and while she better understood the mechanics of the hook, she wasn't quite getting it down, rolling gutter balls more frequently than anything else.

She stood, about to throw her first ball of the seventh frame. She swung the ball back and took a step with her right foot.

"Stop!" someone called out.

Alex nearly fell over as she somehow managed to stop herself from moving forward and narrowly missed hitting the foul line. She turned and looked to see who'd shouted.

_Maggie._

"Alex, I thought we'd been over this," she said, an easy smile on her face. "Left, _then_ right, then left again."

Alex blinked dumbly.

"Your footwork," Maggie said, pointing at Alex's feet.

"Oh!" She laughed. "Right. Yes! That's what I'm doing wrong."

"Well. One thing you're doing wrong," Maggie agreed, wryly.

Alex put the ball back on the rack. "I'm so sorry. For everything."

"I mean, sure," she said, "it got weird for you. It's okay. I _am_ a little curious to know why you're apologizing so much, though. Really, Alex? Three dozen flowers? Free games here _and_ free pizzas? And how much did you bribe Paolo with to keep your secret?"

Alex indicated Maggie should sit down at the console, so she did.

"I'm sorry I was a jerk."

"One bouquet would be enough to apologize for that," she said. "They're all gorgeous, by the way. Thank you."

She smiled. "Well, you're right. I did go a little overboard. Which is sort of what I do? Kind of?"

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "You gotta give me more than that."

She took a deep breath and knitted her fingers and paced. She had to open up to Maggie and let herself be vulnerable. Knowing that's what she had to do didn't make it any easier, though, especially since she didn't expect Maggie to feel the same way.

"I've, uh, I've had some conversations lately that, uh… well, combined with these ongoing dreams I'm having, are… well, they're making sense," Alex said, quickly, letting the words tumble from her mouth. "And because of all of those things, I've had, uh, some, you know, realizations." She stopped pacing and looked at Maggie. A flutter of panic swirled in her stomach. Even though she'd really started to come to grips with who she was over the last several days, it was still new. It was still scary.

"Oh?" Maggie's face softened, and she tilted her head. "What kind of realizations?"

Alex blew out a breath. "About… what you said."

"About?" she prompted, softly.

"About me." She forced a half-smile. "And, say, my motorcycle."

Maggie nodded in understanding.

"And so I think, I think…" She exhaled again. "I'm pretty sure that I'm gay," she said, quietly, "and I'm pretty sure that I like you."

"Oh, Alex," she started.

"No, wait, please, just… let me finish?"

Maggie nodded.

"And it's not a new feeling to me, you know? I kept thinking my dreams were about Vicki. But they weren't, Maggie. They were about you. They still _are_ about you. And it's weird, because it's not, you know, like, uh, sexy, or whatever, it's just…" She sighed. "It's just… _nice_. Curling up together. And it's peaceful. It's so quiet and happy and it just makes me smile," she said, letting the feelings from her dreams overwhelm her for a moment. "And I thought it was about Vicki because that's how I used to feel about her. That's the only other time in my life I've even come close to what I'm feeling now. So…"

"So if that's the only other reference you have to liking someone, then you probably like me. Like that."

"Yes! Exactly. Right." Alex paced again. "And I know I'm new at this and you, well, you definitely aren't, and I'm so sorry to dump all of this on you especially after I ignored you. I was just… scared. And embarrassed. And—"

"Alex."

"Hm?"

"It's okay."

"It is?"

"I'm here for you," she said, kindly. "As a friend," she added.

Alex paused and let that sink in. "Ah," she said, understanding. "So you're, uh, not…" She cleared her throat. "You're not into me?"

Maggie tilted her head at Alex. "When I thought you were a queer woman who knew who she was, the first time I saw you, I would have totally asked you out," she said. "And I still think you're awesome. And beautiful."

Alex blushed.

"But you're also coming to terms with what is literally the most difficult thing you'll ever go through. And, honestly, I did that close to 15 years ago. So I'm here for you. As a friend. To help. But it's not a good idea for us to get involved, not while you're still figuring things out. Those relationships never really work out."

She nodded. The rejection certainly hurt, but she hadn't thought Maggie would have liked her anyway. She took a deep breath. "So, friends?" she asked.

"Friends," Maggie confirmed, holding out her hand.

Alex took it and they shook on it.

***

The dreams lessened in intensity and in frequency immediately, leading Alex to conclude that yes, her dreams were more about unearthing the buried feelings than acting on them.

Now that she was open to exploring her sexuality, she realized that she'd been attracted to a lot of women over the years. Again, it wasn't usually overtly sexual. It was more of a longing to be close, even intimate, with the various women.

Her feelings for Maggie didn't fade. In fact, as she and Maggie saw more and more of one another, she became acutely aware of exactly what she found attractive about Maggie. Her intellect was number one on the list, followed closely by her sense of humour and then her tenacity. Well, Maggie would have called it stubbornness, but Alex viewed it as tenacity, which had a slightly better connotation than stubborn. They saw each other two or three times a week, at least, once for bowling, once for pool and usually once for pizza.

They grew close quickly. Alex consciously tried to let herself open up to the other woman, her father's observation still ringing in her ears even months after their conversation. For the first time in her adult life, Alex had a best friend who wasn't her sister, and she really enjoyed it.

Being so close meant that she was witness to Maggie dating, which was perhaps not Alex's favourite subject. Maggie was quite kind and careful about it, though, recognizing it might be difficult for her to hear. At the same time, she didn't lie to Alex and was clear she was dating around. She encouraged Alex to date, as well.

Seven months later, Alex had been on several dates with women. She'd kissed most of them and even slept with one, which only underlined her original conclusion — she, Alex Danvers, was absolutely, totally and completely gay.

Still, none of the short-lived relationships panned out, and Alex's feelings for Maggie hadn't subsided in the least. More, over the months, she'd become bolder and openly flirted with Maggie, who'd occasionally flirt back. It was a safe environment, both of them knowing nothing would come of it. It became one of the many parts of their friendship, which had only deepened, with both women spending enough time with each other that at least one woman Maggie had dated had complained about how close they seemed. Maggie had broken up with her during that very conversation, explaining quite simply to the woman that Alex was her best friend and, if she had to choose, it would always be Alex.

She knew Maggie hadn't meant it _like that_ , but during the retelling of the story, Alex had felt a little bubble of pride in her chest.

They continued to spend a lot of time together, especially when neither of them were dating. One night, their regular bowling night, they were at the alley. As usual, Maggie was too far in the lead for Alex to even hope to catch up, but Alex was on the cusp of a new personal high score. She picked up the 12-pound ball, having become accustomed to the slightly heavier one and finding that she preferred it.

"Another beer and maybe some onion rings?" Maggie called out to her.

"Do you seriously have to ask?" she asked, laughing.

"It's called being polite, Alex," Maggie grinned and headed to the food counter to place their order.

In the meantime, Alex settled herself as she looked down the lane at the pins. She could do this.

She visualized the throw, the release, the hook. She took a breath and started her approach.

As she released the ball, Alex straightened up and she watched the ball hook properly, slipping through the oil, only to catch the rough wood surface and hook, cutting a perfect path between the pins. It was a strike. While it was no longer an exceedingly rare occurrence, she smiled in satisfaction and looked up at the screen above the lane. 174.

"Hey, way to go!" Maggie said, coming back with the food. She put down the tray and hugged Alex tightly. "New personal best!"

She hugged her back, smiling. "I mean it's not 300 or anything," she said, as she pulled away, alluding to the perfect game Maggie had bowled the week before.

"It's amazing, Alex," Maggie assured her. "I'm proud of you."

She beamed and reached for her beer when her phone rang. She pulled the phone out and looked at the caller ID display. It was her parents' number.

"Hey Mom, can I call you back, I'm—" She froze. She was vaguely aware of Maggie coming up to her as her mother explained that her father had been injured in an attack on the government facility in which he worked. Kara was en route to get Eliza in Midvale and she'd take her to the military hospital.

"Yeah, I know where it is," she said, numbly. "See you soon." She tucked the phone into her back pocket.

"What is it?" Maggie asked, realizing something was wrong.

"It's, uh…" She breathed. "It's my dad," she said. "He's hurt. I have to go."

"Where are they taking him?"

Alex gave her the address, still unable to grasp what was happening.

"Come on," Maggie said, holding out her jacket for her. "Let's go."

Alex let Maggie guide her out and put her into the passenger side of her patrol car before she then got into the driver's seat. Alex's mind was whirring. She hadn't seen her father since that weekend in Midvale. She hadn't had a chance to tell him, to tell him about _her_. Her mom knew, Kara knew, but she hadn't yet told her father. She'd been planning on telling him next month, when he got another two-week leave.

"Alex?" Maggie asked, and she became aware that the other woman had been talking to her.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's okay. I'm just asking if we need to pick up your sister."

Her sister. Kara. Kara, who was flying to Midvale to get their mother. "Uh, no. No, Kara is, uh, gonna bring our mom from, uh, the airport."

Maggie frowned as she wove through the traffic. "The airport? She got a flight this late?"

"Military," was all she said in response.

"Ah." She paused. "Do, uh, do you know what happened?"

"Mom said it was bad," was all she could say.

"Okay," Maggie said. "I'm here for you. As long as you need me, okay?" She reached out with her right hand and gripped Alex's left hand, tightly.

She clung to it.

***

They arrived at the hospital and Maggie took charge.

"Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD. This is Alex Danvers. Her father's been brought here," she said, flashing her badge at the nursing station. "Do we have any updates?"

"Dr. Danvers is currently in surgery," the nurse said, as she looked up the record on the computer. "You can have a seat in the waiting area," she said. "Just down the hall, to the right."

"Thanks," she said to the nurse. She pulled Alex by the hand. They reached the waiting area and Maggie instructed Alex to sit down. "Just wait here," she said. "I'll get us some coffee."

 _Coffee_. "Two milks, no sugar," she said, mechanically.

"I know, Alex, I know." Maggie leaned over and kissed the top of Alex's head. "I'll be right back."

Alex's mind buzzed with possibilities as she waited. How bad was it? Life threatening? Probably. Would he have lasting damage? Also likely. The analytical part of her brain was assessing the situation based on the tiniest bit of information. Paralysis? Amputation? There were just too many bad things it could be and not enough details to narrow things down.

Maggie came back with the coffee and Alex nodded her thanks.

"Any idea when your mom lands?" she asked.

"Not sure," Alex responded. "Oh, but hey, you can, like… go, if you want. I know you have that case you're working on. You should, uh, yeah, go."

"Alex."

"Hm?"

"I'm here for as long as you want me here. Okay?" She took Alex's free hand in her own and squeezed.

"Thank you," she said, sincerely. "How did I ever get so lucky to have a friend like you?"

"Are you kidding me?" Maggie was incredulous. "I'm the lucky one. You are the best friend I've ever had."

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. "You're the one sitting with me here while my dad's in surgery."

"And you're the one who held me when I cried after I tried getting back in touch with my parents."

"Maggie, anyone would do that," she argued.

"But you're the one who did," she insisted. "And you're the one who sent me flowers on Valentine's Day, just to make me feel better. With that crazy card."

"Dear Maggie," she quoted, "roses are red, violets are blue, your parents suck, can I kick their asses for you?"

Maggie smiled and nudged Alex with her shoulder. "Best Valentine's Day ever."

She nodded. "Okay, yeah, that was pretty darn sweet of me," she acknowledged with a grin.

Maggie squeezed Alex's hand again. "So I'm here for you. All night. Tomorrow. However long you want me here, I'm here."

Alex squeezed back. "I love you, you know," she ventured. They rarely spoke so frankly and openly about feelings, but they had previously told each other they loved one another, even though it was usually in jest.

"I love you, too," she said, gently.

Alex rested her head on Maggie's shoulder and Maggie laid her head against Alex's while they waited for news.

Together.

***

Her father would be okay. He'd suffered several broken bones and some third-degree burns, but he would be okay. The explosion at the base had been nearly three weeks ago, and they had finally moved her father out of the intensive care unit just that day. Alex arrived home from the hospital past twenty-two-hundred, exhausted, but relieved.

She took off her helmet and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Vicki had responded to the news with a smiling emoji. Her mother had texted to thank her for being there so much over the last few weeks. But there was nothing from Maggie, which was surprising.

With a sigh, she pocketed the phone and walked up the flights of stairs to her floor. As she opened the door from the stairwell, it surprised her to see Maggie leaning with her back on Alex's apartment door.

"Thought you might be hungry," she said, a box of pizza from _Il Forno_ in one hand. "And thirsty," she said, hefting the box of six beer bottles.

"You are my favourite person," Alex said, in all seriousness. She kissed Maggie on the cheek and unlocked the apartment door, ushering her in.

Maggie deposited the pizza and beer on the counter and got the plates out while Alex took off her boots and her jacket. On her way to the closet, Alex held out her hand for Maggie's jacket, which she was just removing. She hung up the jackets in the closet and went to light a fire. It was a well-rehearsed routine.

Finally, they sat together at the small dining room table, eating the still-hot pizza, enjoying the quiet moment together.

"I was really glad to hear about your dad," Maggie said, around her pizza.

Alex sighed in relief. "Me too," she said. "I mean, it'll be a rough recovery, lots of physiotherapy and stuff. Plus some grafts. But they've warded off any further infections, and bones heal."

"It could have been a lot worse," Maggie agreed. "He was lucky, all things considered."

She nodded, chewing. "He's… I mean, I know you're not close to your dad, but I've always been so close to mine. I can't imagine my life without him in it."

"Here's hoping you won't have to live without him for at least another thirty years," Maggie said, raising her beer.

"Cheers to that," she said, clinking the bottles, looking right into Maggie's eyes. As usual when gazing into those deep, brown eyes, she felt a flutter of something more for her friend. She pulled her eyes away and swigged from her beer.

"Penny," Maggie said, quietly.

"Oh my God, how do you keep _doing_ that?" Alex laughed, unexpectedly.

"I'm a detective, Alex, I—"

"Detect. Yeah, yeah, I know," she grinned. It was an old joke by this time but Alex never stopped being surprised that Maggie always knew when she was thinking deep thoughts.

"Well? What are you thinking?"

"Where's my penny?" she quipped.

Maggie dug into her pocket and dropped a nickel on the table. "I want change."

Alex laughed. It was this, this banter, this easy conversation, the gentle teasing, that she never wanted to lose. So she played it off as a joke.

"Oh, you know," she said, exaggeratedly, "the usual. Just thinking about how I could lose myself in your eyes forever, that kind of thing." She smirked.

Normally, her flirtatious comments would cause Maggie to either blush or roll her eyes — or both. This time, Maggie looked back over at her, giving her a different look.

"I, uh, I was kidding, obviously," Alex stammered.

Maggie cleared her throat and put her pizza down. "Actually, uh, I…" She exhaled shakily. "I wanted to talk to you tonight, even without the news about your dad."

 _Oh, God, she_ _'s dating someone again,_ Alex immediately thought, her stomach lurching at the prospect. _Or she_ _'s going to tell me to stop the flirting. Or something. It's bad. Whatever it is, it's bad._ "Oh?" she asked, sounding much more calm than she felt.

Maggie stood and paced. "Your, uh, your dad… well, he almost died."

Alex nodded, wondering where this was going.

"And it got me thinking, you know, that… that life is, well, it's too short, especially in my line of work."

"Uh huh."

"And, uh…" She cleared her throat and stopped pacing and faced Alex. "And, uh, you know, we should be who we are."

"I agree," she said, having recently told her father she was gay. "I think that's so important."

"Right? Yeah," Maggie said. "And, well, I think, uh, I think we should be who we are and that we should kiss the girls that we wanna kiss."

"Listen, if this is about that Jenny girl from the bar last month, I told you, I'm _not_ into her," Alex joked, deflecting.

"Would you just…" Maggie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and then took a breath. "It's not about Jenny," she said, seriously.

"Okay…"

"We should kiss the girls we wanna kiss and… Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I really just… I really wanna kiss you."

She blinked rapidly.

Maggie grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to her feet. "I really want to kiss you, Alex. If that's okay."

She swallowed, gazing deeply into Maggie's eyes. "Oh, yes," she whispered.

Maggie's hands came up to her cheeks and then her lips were pressing against her own. She felt her eyes close and her eyebrows raise almost comically as her heart erupted in pure joy.

The kiss didn't last too long, but it was long enough for Alex to bring her hands up and grip Maggie's upper arms and squeeze, not wanting to leave the moment, not ever.

Maggie finally pulled back, nuzzling Alex's chin with her nose for a moment. "So that was okay?"

Alex claimed her lips in another, shorter kiss. "I have been wanting to do that for a long time," she whispered in Maggie's ear as she pulled the other woman to her in a full-body hug.

"I could tell," Maggie teased.

She laughed and squeezed tighter for a moment before releasing her. "What changed your mind?" she asked.

Maggie shrugged. "I've watched you grow more and more comfortable with yourself," she said. "And I have been so proud of you. You came out to your sister, to your mom, now your dad. You've tried dating. You're not…" She paused, searching for the words. "You're not fresh off the boat, anymore."

Alex chuckled at that.

"But really, it is because life is just too short. Why waste time? I've been falling for you for a long time, Alex Danvers," she said, softly, looking up at her. "And this one quote just keeps popping into my head."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Love is friendship set on fire."

Alex let out a light gasp. "That's… that's exactly it," she said, her eyes watering, looking deeply into Maggie's. "And you know, I wasn't kidding about losing myself in your eyes," she admitted.

"I kind of hoped that was the case because this could have ended _very_ differently if you had been."

She laughed. She could have it all. She could see it, in her mind's eye. The two of them old and grey, laugh lines around their eyes and mouths. Always bantering easily, teasing gently. And behind it all was a long, enduring love.

"So you're okay with this?" Maggie asked, once more.

"I am so okay," she responded with a sweet kiss. "So very okay."

**Author's Note:**

> Each part of the series is a one-shot. There will be no second chapters or continuations within the series, so please don’t ask. :) Once I’m done with all the Earths, I may do a smaller collection based on some of my favourites from this series but that’s a long way off.


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